The stakes are huge, the recent publicity has been critical. Thursday Night Football on CBS with the NFL Network is a one-year deal, but CBS President and CEO Les Moonves has big plans for the future: “This is a sure thing,” he said. “We know it’s going to work, it’s going to be on network television for many years. This is the single best product on network television. We’re confident they’ll see how good a job CBS will do and extend the deal.”

Don’t look for NFL football to move to cable or a streaming service any time soon. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell asserted, “We are huge believers in broadcast television, that’s a distinguishing factor between the NFL and other sports.” The league is committed for next nine years.

Robert Kraft, Chairman and CEO of the New England Patriots, said by Thursday night, people want football. The team would like to have more than one Thurs. night in a season.

Sean McManus, Chairman CBS Sports, said the partnership with NFL Network will bring some innovations, namely a new super high-def camera suspended on a wire on sidelines and goal lines, new graphics, new theme music.

Moonves said CBS has made a profit “just about every year that we’ve had the NFL. The NFL gets great advertising rates and helps us across the board with retransmission consent negotiations.

Goodell discounted the idea that football is a dangerous sport. “There have been views about football for over a century in the media…we’ve made our game safer. The awareness we’re bringing to concussions has been good not only for football but for the military…There’s a lot of misinformation out there. We’re investing in youth football…we believe in it.” He said there has been no increase in injury rates, in fact a slight decrease, since playing Thursdays.

About the “Redskins” team name controversy: “We haven’t made any specific plans with regard to the name,” CBS’ McManus said. The network has “no plan to tell our announcers what to say.”

Meanwhile, look for Peyton Manning and a slew of CBS sitcom/drama stars to be part of the Thursday Night Football promotional push.

AMERICAN IDOL XIII: Caleb Johson is crowned the AMERICAN IDOL at the NOKIA THEATRE L.A. LIVE on Wednesday, May 21 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. L-R: Caleb Johnson and Ryan Seacrest. CR: Michael Becker/FOX.

What’s that creaking sound? It’s the incredible shrinking “American Idol” audience. Not only shrinking but aging, not very gracefully.

As the audience for the once powerful singing competition has dwindled, it seems the age of the “Idol” audience has crept upwards. In 2001, the median age was 31.9; in 2013 it was 51.2, and it’s expected to reach a ripe 53.4 for the latest round, according to Nielsen data provided by industry analyst Brad Adgate. From a high of 30 million viewers in 2005-06, the average audience is expected to fall to some 10 million in the latest count. The most-watched finale was way back in 2003.

This week’s historically low season finale is just the latest gasp from Fox’s former-hit.

The first part of the Season 13 finale Tuesday drew only 6.6 million viewers, the lowest-rated episode in the history of Fox’s reality singing competition. The second part did only slightly better Wednesday, when 10.1 million people watched. That’s the least-watched finale ever, down from last year’s 14.3 million.

Fox executives have spoken publicly about the precipitous ratings decline of “Idol,” scaling back to only 37 hours of the show next year (down from 50-plus).

What next? Revamp the frequently revamped format yet again, or assume it can hold its current level and broadcast fewer hours–perhaps with cheaper talent?

The most buzzed about moment from Sunday’s Academy Awards telecast, the selfie that “broke” the internet, calls to mind an earlier star-filled shot and suggests how the world has changed. Two Hollywood photos, two eras.

In 1943, to mark the 20th anniversary of MGM, the studio gathered its stars for a formal photograph. With Louis B. Mayer seated in the center, some 60 actors gathered for the historic moment. A film of the photo being shot shows elegant actors taking their seats and chatting, stiffly, until the photographer is ready. Imagine, the front row alone included James Stewart, Margaret Sullivan, Lucille Ball, Hedy Lemar, Katharine Hepburn, Louis B. Mayer, Greer Garson, Irene Dunne, Susan Peters, Ginny Simms and Lionel Barrymore. There were five rows of seated, big-name actors and a sixth row standing in the back.

MGM anniversary photo, 1943 (Provided by MGM).

Flashforward to 2014 and Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres’ selfie, shared on Twitter. It was actually taken by Bradley Cooper, and included Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Spacey and more. Everyone is goofing on the very idea, elbowing into the impromptu shot in the aisle, crouching, squatting, leaning in and laughing at the concept while indulging. As if to say, “We’re A-listers and we’re loose!” A very postmodern moment.

As opposed to MGM’s stately documented moment — or, in fact, the annual “class picture” of nominees at the Oscar luncheon – the point of the 2014 Oscar shot is its informality. The MGM photo remains famous as a poster. The 2014 Twitter selfie celebrating spontaneity scored more than 2 million retweets. Imagine how the technology will evolve to produce yet a different tone in a forthcoming Hollywood group shot.

The theme was Heroes in Hollywood. And the Oscarcast eventually delivered a few.
The first 20 minutes of the 86th annual Academy Awards telecast flew by, thanks to our host. Then, through the dreary middle, the pace dragged. For a long 90 minutes, only one major award was announced. At last, Lupita Nyong’o showed up to give what may have been the thank-you of the night. Bette Midler sang heroically. Sidney Poitier, 87, was inspiring.
But the show’s sum total was underwhelming. Three hours in, it needed a jolt.
From the beginning, return host Ellen DeGeneres dared the audience — and by extension the Academy voters — to overlook “12 Years a Slave” at the risk of being perceived as a bunch of racists.
It would be a long night to find out how the vote went. (Bravo, Academy.)
As we learned from last year’s Oscar telecast, this night of adulation is best played for gentle humor. The most successful hosts pay tribute to convention, aren’t full of disdain for the event and don’t pose as too cool for the room. In 2013, Seth MacFarlane pushed too hard. This year, Ellen DeGeneres was a bit soft.
Is it cute, ordering pizza for the A-listers in the audience, or just silly? It was stretched thin.
Gently nudging on issues of race and homosexuality, cleverly knocking Hollywood superficiality, DeGeneres was relaxed and sweetly self-promoting (the animation clips were light on “Finding Nemo,” she complained). She made a lovely Glinda the Good Witch.
Her use of Jonah Hill’s male anatomy as a running punch line might have been a tad risque, but DeGeneres made sure the joke was ultimately on her.

The tone of the evening swerved from upbeat “Happiness,” as Pharrell Williams sang, to social consciousness. The serious consideration of slavery was a powerful undercurrent. AIDS was mentioned in connection with “Dallas Buyers Club,” and the night’s first winner, best supporting actor Jared Leto, noted Ukraine and Venezuala.
DeGeneres underscored the fact that America is caught up in First World problems, notably rain in Los Angeles.
The set design was clean, not overly busy, and the typewriters were a grand touch to introduce best adapted screenplay (“12 Years a Slave”).
The problem of the slow middle is standard in Oscar telecasts. There’s got to be a way to mix it up, shuffle the order a bit and get some bigger awards into the lineup early.
You know things are dull when you’ve switched from the TV to search for DeGeneres’ selfie on Twitter.

The clothes! The hair! The attitude! And that’s just the NBC commentators. Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski will trade the ice rink in Sochi for the red carpet in Hollywood this weekend, showing off their couture commentating skills.

The toast of the Winter Olympics figure skating telecasts from Sochi, Weir and Lipinski join Access Hollywood’s lineup Sunday for Oscar see-and-be-seen duty, the “Access” producers announced Tuesday. (They also worked with NBC Studios’ Access Hollywood in Sochi.)

Take the increased exposure as a hint that NBC knows what they have in these Olympians: potential younger-skewing hosts for the 2018 Games to enliven the proceedings. The long-range tryouts continue.

Do you have 50% of your body weight to shed? Are you beyond being humiliated on national television? ABC’s “Extreme Weight Loss” is holding an open casting call in Denver on Feb. 15. The call is 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center, 12348 E. Montview Blvd. in Aurora.

The obese individuals who set out to safely lose half of their body weight over the course of a year (13 two-hour episodes) are overseen by trainer/transformation specialist Chris Powell, and also benefit from the expertise of medical director Holly Wyatt at Anschutz. Anschutz had a starring role in season 4 of the reality TV series, and for season 5, the Center will be a central player in the opening episodes.

Denver is one of 13 cities included in the auditions. Must be at least 18. Find more rules and information about applying at www.extremeweightlosscasting.com.

Sharon Magness Blake poses with Thunder, the Broncos’ Arabian gelding mascot, which made an appearance on the Today show Jan. 29, 2014. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

In advance of the Broncos-Seahawks Super Bowl, NBC’s “Today” will do a live shot from Denver Friday. A pep rally at the Tavern Downtown invites fans to show up in orange at 4 a.m., and to cheer loud and long. A similar rally will be held in Seattle at the same time in a competition to see which city has the best team spirit… “Today’s” Kerry Sanders will be in Denver, Joe Fryer in Seattle for a fan shout-out.

Meanwhile in Manhattan, Thunder the Broncos’ Arabian horse mascot and his rider/trainer, Ann Judge-Wegener, are booked to appear on both “Today” and Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends.”

Whether or not they contractually have access to players, whether or not they can legally show game footage, whether or not they are allowed inside the locker room, Denver TV stations will ride the Broncos to what they hope will be extra ratings and revenue this week. (At least they’ll cash in on the mania rather than seem lacking in team spirit.)

Sunday’s AFC title game telecast, the Broncos playing the New England Patriots on home turf at 1 p.m. on CBS4, will be surrounded by “specials” over the next several days. Expect lots of live coverage from the stadium starting Friday morning.

Channel 4 plans a preview show 6:30-7 p.m. Saturday and network and local specials Sunday morning leading in to the NFL show at noon, and the Broncos-Patriots telecast. After the game, 4:30-6 p.m., CBS4 will pre-empt the “CBS Evening News” for an extended local newscast. And there’s more after the late news, with a local 10:35-11:07 p.m. sports show.

9News has an edition of “Broncos Huddle” Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and an hour-long Broncos special Saturday at 8 p.m. “Game Day Live” will broadcast at 9 a.m. Sunday from inside the stadium. Because 9News is the Broncos official partner, “we will be the only shows broadcast live inside the stadium,” said news boss Patti Dennis.

7News will air a special “John Fox Show” on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Looking ahead, news chief Jeff Harris said the station is “finalizing plans for two daily additional half-hour shows around the Super Bowl run,” one in the morning, one in the evening in the week leading to the Super Bowl.

KDVR-KWGN have been running two half-hour specials, 6-6:30 p.m. on Fox31 and 7:30-8 on Channel 2, every night this week. “We are in Super Bowl planning mode,” according to News Director Ed Kosowski. In the event of a win Sunday, those nightly specials would continue the week of Jan. 27, leading up to the Feb. 2 Super Bowl telecast on Fox.

And what does CBS4 say about all the supposedly special programming surrounding Sunday’s championship game, to which only they own broadcast rights? “The ratings really speak for themselves. The largest audience by far is during the game. Shows surrounding the game garner the next largest audience and everything else drops off dramatically from there,” per CBS4 General Manager Walt DeHaven.

Dori Mann of Fort Collins holds a small sign as she waits with her daughter Carlynn Rockwell, 12, to audition for Fox’s “X-Factor” reality TV singing competition at the Denver Coliseum on May 14, 2013 in Denver. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

The list of media prohibitions is hilarious. No video, photos or recording inside; no revealing contestants names or telling if they move forward or are rejected; no reporting which judge says yes or not to any contestant; no reporting on all auditions, “please select just a few to refer to.”

Auditions for season 3 of “the X Factor” will be held in Denver next month over what sounds like a long three days. The first round of open-call auditions will be on Tuesday, May 14. Wristbands will be distributed to aspiring contestants from approximately 8 a.m. on Sunday, May 12, until approximately 11 a.m. on Tuesday, May 14. But don’t bring your sleeping bag. Per Fox: “Auditioners will not be permitted to camp out.” Once you get your wristbands you will be asked to leave and then return to The Denver Coliseum by 7 a.m. Tuesday.

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.